Airco

I have the same car, and the same problem. I took it to an independent garage, who noted that all the refrigerant had escaped. They partially pressurized the system and injected some dye, hoping to see later where the dye leaked out. This technique did not work even after two iterations. There is a better method: an electronic "sniffer" tool - I'm in the process of finding a garage with this tool.

Get it recharged with freon, it may be years before it looses enough to quit working again.

In Ontario, you can't buy cans of r134a as a mere consumer, you have to go to a garage. And they're not allowed to add any more than a test amount until they find the leak. I've thought about just driving to the States and buying a refill can though.

Careful with that. If you make any mistake, you can freeze off some fingers.

Co-worker had an aircon repair business; he told me his business partner lost his fingers (frostbite? amputation?) when the *thought* he had bled out all the freon, but actually hadn't.

Just something to keep in mind.

The compressor will still load the engine some,..as it may now have air in the system to pump. The actual fault maybe anything from a failed TR valve to a holed condensor. Be careful running the compressor for too long (as in hours) as it may have lost a lot of oil. The oil stays in suspension in the gas, which is why bad leaks are accompanyied by a greasy, dirty area around the leak-site. Any decent automotive AC place should be able to find the problem quickly. In the "old" days mechanics used a flame to check for leaks. It would change colour in the presence of refridgerant. Now they have better electronic sniffers.

Jason

Sounds like an urban legend. You'd have to intentionally keep your fingers in the escaping refrigerant stream for quite a while.

The dealer wants about 180 $ for recharging it, because apparently it needs to be emptied first. Refill cans are not available to consumers.

Maybe I'll just roll down the window...

Airconditioners are a sealed system which has to be very clean, because the compressor cannot be oil-changed unless the whole system is evacuated then refilled with new gas and oil. Even tho the system is sealed, they still include a "drier" cannister to remove any debris which forms due wear. The tiny orifice (expansion valve seen in the AC plumbing under the hood) which aids the liquid to gas change of state which removes heat from the car's interior (via the evaporator inside the car) will not tolerate debris either.

The compressor compresses cool Freon gas, causing it to become hot, high-pressure Freon gas This hot gas runs through a set of coils (called the condensor which lives in front of the radiator) so it can dissipate its heat, and it condenses into a liquid. The Freon liquid runs through an expansion valve, and in the process it evaporates to become cold, low-pressure Freon gas (light blue in the diagram above). This cold gas runs through a set of coils (called the evaporator which is fitted into the car's heater-cooling system under the dashboard) that allow the gas to absorb heat and cool down the air inside the

To just add refridgerant from a can does not guarentee the best outcome. It doesn't remove any water or air in the system which reduces its cooling ability. To maintain a well-functioning AC, will require periodic servicing. However, unless there has been a leak, most AC systems will operate well for many years.

Jason

Freon is a registered trademark that only refers to DuPont-branded CFC refrigerants. The OP's system uses R-134a, branded "Suva®" by DuPont, "Genetron®" by Honeywell, "Forane®" by Arkema, etc.

Recharge that system with Freon® and it may be years before you get it working again.

Ammonia works well, too.